INTERVIEW: I haven't experienced anything like it

Defender Tom Miller spoke to us about his first goal as a professional in the 3-2 away victory at Hartlepool, and about his goal celebrations, which went just a little bit wrong ...

“I really enjoyed the game,” he said. “The fans were brilliant. I didn't expect anything like that but it just shows how much passion they have for the club.

“I've never been involved in anything like it before. We obviously had Lincoln against Grimsby, but this game was on another level. You could see how important it was to the fans and how much they wanted to win.

“The lads wanted to win just as much and the whole experience was new. It was no means our best performance of the season but we dug in and kept going. I think that shows the quality we've got in the side.

“We've outplayed teams and not got the results recently. We've conceded too many goals, and we obviously conceded another two cheap goals today, but we've still got another gear to go to. For us to win a game when we're nowhere near our best shows a lot about the group.

“To get the first league win is brilliant because we know it's been coming for a while. I think we can really push on now and it will act as a turning point.”

On his first goal for the club, he said: “If you ask the lads they’ll tell you I put that type of shot in the top corner every day in training. They're all winding me up and saying it was a cross, but I did actually shoot.

“As soon as I did it I thought - oh no I should have put it back in the box - but it went in. It was my first ever league goal so it's nice.”

And on the initial stages of his celebrations, which took him away from the Carlisle United support, he said: “I was so shocked that it had gone in that I didn’t know where I was! I lost my bearings and then I realised the fans were behind me, so I ran back across to them straight after. It was a great feeling.

“It was brilliant to be with them when they were celebrating. I haven’t experienced anything like that before either, but they’ve been brilliant for us all season. I know they can get frustrated at times, and you can hear that at home games, but that’s understandable because they’re passionate about the club. Rightly so, because they want us to do well this year. The players feel the same so we’ll keep pushing on.”

“It’s been a good week, with the Liverpool draw and the away win, but we can’t get carried away,” he commented. “We’ve got to look to the next game, which is against Port Vale on Tuesday night. We then have to take each game as it comes. Everyone is on a high but we’ve got to keep the momentum going and make sure it carries on.

“On a personal level I still think there’s more to come from me. I’m learning new things from the players every day of the week and I’m working on my strengths and weaknesses to make sure I keep improving.

“I’m finding out more about myself from each and every game and it’s good to be getting experience of the different roles. The style of football we’re playing suits me because it’s the way I like to play.

“The position when I’m higher up the pitch and out wide is one I have got to get used to, because I haven’t played there before, but I do enjoy doing it. The way the gaffer is asking us to do things is really enjoyable at the moment.”

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